A Santa Barbara Independent article by Tyler Hayden reporting on a two-day, 80-acre prescribed burn conducted at the Ted Chamberlin Ranch in May 2021, in which Santa Barbara County Fire Department trained firefighters from 13 California agencies in wildland containment techniques while simultaneously reducing dangerous fuel loads on the property. The article covers the dual purpose of the burn (firefighter training and range improvement), the planning process, the role of new California legislation enabling private “burn boss” certification for ranchers, and the Chamberlin family’s perspective on using controlled burns as both a wildfire mitigation strategy and a tool to convert chaparral back to grazing vegetation.
